2018 Beaujolais

I see Thivin has started to hit the shelves, so I’m starting a new thread for this vintage and any tasting notes. From William Kelley’s early notes (https://www.wineberserkers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=2746235#p2746235 and https://www.wineberserkers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=2790524#p2790524), he provided a succinct summary:

In style, the 2018s are supple, fruit-driven and voluptuous, without the extremes of concentration of the 2015s, and often with more succulent fruit than that vintage, too, despite their below average acidities. People who love the mouthwatering liveliness and perfume of Gamay will not gravitate towards the vintage, but it’s a fleshy, front-loaded, consumer-friendly vintage that will likely win the region new friends even if it doesn’t routinely thrill its old ones.

Maybe these will be delicious now while the earlier vintages continue to rest in the cellar? I’m interesting in hearing any tasting notes or general thoughts on this vintage.

Ordered '18 Roilette and Desvignes yesterday. First 2018 bojo’s to be added to my cellartracker. I will follow up with first impressions when I crack one open, in November, when I pick them up.

TW

We opened a 2018 Thivin Cote De Brouilly tonight. Enticing nose, the ripe fruit was front and center, backed by good acidity and some dusty tannin that draws you back to the glass. Its certainly more lush and full than recent years. Not sure what the means for its longevity, but its certainly enjoyable now. I’ll be seeking out more 2018’s.

Bought Roilette (normale + tardive 2018) at the estate in August. Have ordered also some Bouland to put away as it was not available at the estate. I was impressed by both estates. I will likely keep it at that as I am running out of space.

Desvignes Morgon is delightful.

Have opened a couple of '18s from Métras, Chermette and others over the last couple of weeks and it really is a very friendly vintage. As I wrote in my big report in TWA earlier in the year, the high yields of the vintage did a lot to mitigate the sort of imbalances that can be found in (for example) the sometimes high alcohol, high tannin, low acid 2015s.

How is Beaujolais these days? I haven’t bought any for over a decade and other than some 30 year old bottles at that place in Tampa, I can’t remember the last time I had a bottle. I hate banana (one of the few foods I won’t eat) and the banana flavors in Beaujolais were just so off-putting that I moved on to other thing, although I have been drinking it on and off since 1967, when they gave us each a 375 in our boxed lunch on the train from Lucerne to Paris. For a 15 year old, that was heaven.

Any good solid producers? Best Cru? I remember liking some Brouilly but DuBoeuf seemed to be the Bronco Wine of France, so I gave up.

Funny when I saw that you posted on this thread, my first thought was “why”!

If you are going to wade in, the ones I think you would be most likely to enjoy, are:

Foillard 3.14
Lapierre Cuvee Lapierre
Roilette Griffe du Marquis
Bouland Morgon Delys
Thivin CdB - try 2015, more ripe and quite excellent

Not Saxum in scale, but more beefy than most Beaujolais.

Crush NYC usually carries some of these.

The '18 Roilette Tardive was the best I’ve ever tried from him.

this is delicious, particularly after being open for a day.

I had the regular Roilette last week. I enjoyed it but found it to be at the upper edge of ripeness for my taste. It didn’t venture into 2015 territory; it’s probably more like 2009. 2009s might have been a bit fresher. There’s enough freshness to the fruit, and some complexity with floral notes, but you can feel some alcohol there as well. It will be interesting to see how it evolves with a little time. I like my Beaujolais with a lot of immediate, up front freshness, and while this wasn’t the best example of that quality, I still thought it was a good wine.

No banana in the best of them. Dubeouf was master of the banana plant, but nobody drinks those anymore anyways.

the 2015 lapierre had distinct banana aromas, at least on release

Has anyone had the 2018 Métras cuvées yet? I’m especially curious about the Fleurie and the Premiere/Deuxieme Mise.

And IIRC even Duboeuf has stopped using the 71B yeast which caused the banana notes.

Have had the Deuxieme Mise, which is very nice and a step up from 2017 - in a somewhat more muscular register. Fleurie and Fleurie Printemps both lined up for the near future to check in.

Thank you, WK! I also have the Printemps on deck. My Beaujolais experience is limited, so I’m looking forward to comparing these.

G

In the Vinous article posted recently, they remarked that 2017 is “decidedly richer” than 2018, and that the 2018s are fresher and more elegant. This surprised me. Has anyone else found that to be the case? I haven’t had any 2018s yet but plan to dip toes in soon.

Ask me again after November 2 when I’ll be attending a 2018 Beaujolais dinner. I’ll try and take notes, no guarantees though. Looking forward to it as I’ve heard some very good things.

Just bought some of the 2018 Bouland Delys cuvée. Love this stuff. The 2017 was excellent.